Saturday, 18 March 2017

It Always Helps If...

you take the time to read the pattern correctly! I decide to re-do the Jan Stawasz motif in size 20 thread and find that the difference in size is not massive... but my tatting enjoyment is greatly improved! So I think I will have to go with size 20 thread if I decide to go with this project. I don't have any ecru at the moment so will have to order some.

When re-tatting it, I decided to have another go at tackling Jan's method of tatting. It's really like front-side/back-side tatting except that he doesn't start a chain on the back side with the 2nd half of a double-stitch as you would but rather he starts with a full stitch as on the front-side except that he adds a half stitch before making picots so that they fall between two half-stitches (back side) rather than between two full stitches (front side). I was finding it confusing before to read his pattern with the little dots but I get it now. It's not that difficult really, I don't know why I was finding it so confusing before!

Anyway, here is a second take at the motif, on the right, in size 20 thread, done with Jan Stawasz's method of tatting. I also noticed that he doesn't count the join as a half stitch so I did that like him too, starting with a full stitch after each join. I scanned the new motif next to the first purple one, for comparative purposes.

When paying proper attention to the pattern (hence title of this post), I realised I did not have the right number of picots on my chains on the first motif (some have 7 and some have 9 with different spacings).

Now I look at the scan, the motif on the right rather does look ecru, doesn't it? But in reality it is more of a light brown. I think I will still order some ecru. You always need ecru in your stash anyway, don't you think?

15 comments:

Both motifs look very pretty! I agree, reading the pattern correctly is key! However, I'm not good at reading the pattern correctly. I understand Jan Stawasz's directions, but I'm not good at keeping track of where I am in the pattern using his method. I guess I'm just a lazy tatter!

Oh no! I'm not sure I want to be responsible for this. :-) Frankly his method is pretty well fs/bs tatting except that he doesn't start with a 2nd half of a double stitch when on the back. He still always starts with the first half, whichever side he is on. I'm now finding this throws the stitch count a bit and ideally, I'd like to add that extra half stitch to balance things out. I've probably got you all even more confused now! :-)

Ecru is something you just got to have it's a classic I have to of the JS books and what makes it confusing is that he has directions for both ways and it throws me off. Your tatting is lovely and I like smaller thread too :)

Yes Jane, I think it will as the stitch count of those round motifs is going to change depending on where they are placed in the design (which sides of it are joined to where) which means they are going to be all different and yes, will require a lot of attention!

It's easier to see the stitches in the ecru, both are lovely. It makes me nervous when I see someone like you working to understand his method. I have a book of his but am not sure I have the time or patience to do this. Looking forward to yours though!

I do like his style of tatting, when I try his style I found I was already tatting more or less the same way so it was not hard to adjust to his thinking in his patterns,Personally I don't like ecru, never have, it always looks a mucky cream to me, but we can't all be the same, we all have personal thinks and dislikes.Your motif does look ecru in the picture and it looks much better than your first one so well done. I look forward to seeing how you get on.

It's such a beautiful pattern and your tatting is flawless as always.A few months back, I was working on a comparison of the different methods of tatting, using tatting samaplers. You have nailed Jan's method ! I came to the same understanding. However, I still can't see how it 'balances' or maybe I am just too set in my ways now (fb/bs). With your permission, I'd like to link to your post when I get back to finalising the presentation.

Of course Muskaan, you can link with pleasure! I agree with you though that I'm not sure his method is better... well I guess nobody says it's "better", it's just "his" method of doing it. But I am finding that this particular motif is less symmetrical as it means the stitch count is off by one half stitch on each side and visually, you can see it and it bothers me (the chains with 7 picots are a tad shorter than the ones with 9 picots although they should have the same stitch count). I shall have to give that some thought and decide how to proceed if I decide to do the big piece with this motif. :-)